Last April, 90 Albertans died from overdose — fewer than half the 186 fatalities in the same month in 2023
Opioid deaths in Alberta were at their lowest point since 2020 and on the heels of the crisis’ deadliest year, according to provincial statistics released Thursday.
Last April, 90 Albertans died from overdose — fewer than half the 186 fatalities in the same month in 2023 which was the deadliest month since the crisis began in earnest in 2016.
The drug poisoning deaths per 100,000 people last April — 23 — was also the lowest per capita figure since April 2020, when it sat at 21.8, while fatalities that month were 80.
In Calgary, the number of overdose deaths plummeted dramatically, from 75 in April of 2023 to 19 a year later.
“I am encouraged by the downward trend in the number of opioid-related fatalities, and our government remains cautiously optimistic with the most recent data showing opioid overdose fatalities down 52 per cent since peaking last year,” Dan Williams, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, said in a statement Thursday.
“We are building 11 recovery communities across the province, providing more Albertans a place to receive long-term treatment at no cost,” said Williams.
“With two of these already online and two more opening this year, we are giving Albertans an opportunity to rebuild their lives and reconnect with their family, community, and culture.”
Other metrics told a similar tale with EMS responses to overdoses down significantly so far this year from their highest-ever points last summer.
Advocate questions numbers, points to backlog
While the numbers appear to be good news, an activist who’s been calling for more harm reduction in Alberta questioned if they’re telling the whole story, pointing to a 1,400-case backlog at the province’s chief medical examiner’s office in 2023, four times the number from the previous year.
Those numbers could rise once that autopsy backlog is cleared, she said.
“It’s good to see (deaths) going down but you can’t fully trust the numbers,” said Petra Schulz, founder of the group Moms Stop the Harm.
She notes opioid death numbers are also trending down in B.C., which is known for its harm reduction focus and even exploring the safer drug supply approach.
“If the numbers are indeed trending down, they’ve got nothing to do with what the government in Alberta and B.C. are doing,” said Schulz, whose son died of an opioid overdose in 2014.
“It shouldn’t be a political football — we should treat it as a health issue.”
Schulz said if the province’s numbers hold, it could be attributed to a less dangerous drug supply.
‘Good news’: Physician says crisis may be easing
But a physician who works with groups vulnerable to opioid overdose said that drug supply remains toxic, adding experts have seen changes to it that pose a different kind of risk.
Dr. Monty Ghosh said they’ve encountered instances when fentanyl, by far the dominant substance in overdoses, has been absent and in its place substances that adulterate that drug.
“With that, (users) might lose their tolerance to the opioid and lead to a higher risk of overdosing,” he said.
But he said carfentanyl, an analog of fentanyl and 100 times more potent, is being found in fewer autopsies — 12 per cent so far this year compared to 23 per cent in 2023.
Even so, Ghosh said the downward trend in deaths and the increasing number of people seeking treatment in Alberta bodes well for a possible long-term easing of the crisis, which peaked last year when as of last May, the number of opioid deaths recorded for 2023 was 2,052.
“A significant trend would be four to six (decrease) points in a row and that’s what we’ve seen here since December and that is good news,” he said.
“We do need a multi-pronged approach to deal with this crisis — harm reduction and treatment services.”
Still struggling with the crisis, said Ghosh, are Lethbridge and Red Deer, with the latter city exerting pressure to end its supervised consumption site.
“That is hugely problematic,” he said.
‘Hard to tell’ what’s led to downward trend, says physician
Ghosh said it’s hard to pin down precisely what the reason is for the downward trend in fatalities.
But he pointed to a larger number of naloxone overdose reversal kits being handed out and greater access to agonist treatment which replaces dangerous opioids with more controlled substances like methadone and buprenorphine as possible factors.
“It’s hard to tell — we haven’t fully seen the government’s approach, it hasn’t all been implemented yet,” said Ghosh.
He also noted the crisis exploded in 2020 just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit which isolated drug users, worsened mental health conditions and reduced access to services.
“And because the border (with the U.S.) had closed, there tended to be higher concentrations of these drugs because they were harder to smuggle,” said Ghosh.